Systems and methods for monitoring moving devices

ABSTRACT

This present specification provides, amongst other things, an electro-optical monitoring system for obtaining a once-per-revolution signal based on the surface reflection of a rotating device that mandates non-contacting sensor input in potentially hostile environments. The system can use optical and electronic sections to illuminate and detect surface reflections from the rotating surface using existing mounting locations on the periphery of the machine to be measured. The electronic portion is configured to determine a unique mark as the once-per-revolution marker or allow an attending operator to assign a specific marker based on the observed reflected pattern. The optical portion consists of a light source, receiver, and optics will allow for focused and directed light paths to properly position relevant to key reflective surfaces.

PRIORITY

The present specification claims priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication 60/822,497, filed Aug. 15, 2006, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present specification relates generally to methods and systems formonitoring of vibration, motion and other aspects of moving devices, andmore particularly relates to a monitoring system for gas turbine enginesand other moving devices.

BACKGROUND

Systems and methods for measurement of vibration and motion ofrotational devices are known. For example, many audio spectrum analyzersare available in the marketplace as well as modular approaches usinganalog-to-digital converter hardware.

The gas turbine engine is one rotational device that can benefit fromthis technology. Without positional information, many engine faults gounidentified or are identified incorrectly, until failure is imminent.Yet, due to extreme operating conditions, gas turbine engines are amongthe most difficult type of rotating machinery for engineering asynchronization solution.

The most common positioning solution for gas turbine engines is based onusing a fixed reference point positioned on the shaft surface. However,this solution can be intrusive to normal turbine operation and canrequire shutdown conditions. Maintenance activities are then restrictedonly to those that can be performed when the unit is down (e.g. during awash cycle). During shutdown conditions, dynamic testing is accomplishedby applying a dab of reflective paint to mark a specific location on theshaft. A once-per-revolution signal is obtained by using a tachometerdevice connected to a borescope access port. Once the engine is started,however, the paint is reliable for only a short time as it loses itsreflective characteristics soon after being subjected to the hightemperatures and particulate matter passing through the engine. Use ofthe paint spot method also presents an operational limitation—the paintmust typically be applied at least twenty-four hours prior to anysubsequent testing. Typically, this prohibits normal turbine operationfor thirty-six hours creating the potential for havoc for normaloperations and severe financial losses.

In contrast to shutdown conditions, obtaining a cleanonce-per-revolution signal from the rotating shaft is the optimum methodof gathering data of an operating gas turbine but poses significantengineering challenges. Some of these constraints include: (1) the probecannot make contact with the shaft, (2) the shaft cannot be modified inany way, (3) nothing must be attached to the shaft, (4) the closestpoint to the shaft must be several inches away due to rotatingcompressor blades, (5) the shaft is fully enclosed in a pressurizedsection of the engine, where the nominal pressure can equal two-hundredpounds-per-square-inch (“PSI”), and (6) the shaft surface temperaturecan be approximately four-hundred degrees Fahrenheit.

Lacking accurate positional information during operation, many enginefaults go unidentified until failure is imminent. Whileengine-monitoring technologies such as magnetic or radio frequencysensors can detect impending problems (e.g., engine vibration), theyrequire special treatment or changes to the materials used in themachine construction. As a result, the fault remedy is global and notspecific. Most often, the expeditious (but costly) remedy is replacementof the entire turbine, versus a time-consuming qualification of faultrecognition, and subsequent repair of the causal condition.

SUMMARY

The present specification provides, amongst other things, a fiber-optictachometer borescope and a focusing tip borescope. The borescope can beused for once-per-revolution phase-dependent turbine inspection and/orpositionally aware tangential velocity and/or remote visual inspection.

The present specification provides, amongst other things, systems andmethods for obtaining a fixed positional reference point on rotatingsurfaces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a system for monitoring for amoving surface.

FIG. 2 shows the optical portion of the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a partial perspective view of the electronics portion ofthe system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 shows a partial view of the end of the optical portion of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 shows a representation of an exemplary distribution of emittingand non-emitting of fiber optic strands in a cross section of theoptical portion of FIG. 2 through the lines VI-VI in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 shows the surface of a spinning wheel embossed with metal stampednumerals in the upper half of FIG. 7, and an associated waveform.

FIG. 8 shows an example of three separate waveforms as detected by thesystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 shows the waveforms of three separate speeds of the wheel of FIG.7.

FIG. 10 shows a flow-chart depicting a method for monitoring a movingsurface.

FIG. 11 shows a flow-chart depicting another method for monitoring amoving surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1-4 show a system for monitoring a moving surface indicatedgenerally at 50, and which comprises an electronic portion 54 and anoptical portion 58.

Optical portion 58, which is shown in greater detail in FIG. 2,comprises a Y-shaped fiber optic cable 62. Cable 62 includes a V-section66 and a collective section 70. V-section 66 includes a source line 74and a receiver line 78 which merge into collective section 70. Sourceline 74 terminates with a source connector 82 while receiver line 78terminates with a receiver connector 86. Collective section 70terminates with a tip portion 90. Tip portion 90 (shown in both FIG. 2and in FIG. 5) comprises a fiber-optic bundle 94 and a connector 98disposed between bundle 94 and collective section 70. Fiber-optic bundle94 contains a plurality of fiber-optic strands. A portion of thefiber-optic strands within bundle 94 are emitting as they are connectedto source-line 74, and those emitting strands will thus emit light froman extreme tip 100 of bundle 94. As will be discussed further below, theremaining portion of the fiber-optic strands within bundle 94 arenon-emitting as they are connected to receiver-line 78, and thosenon-emitting strands will thus receive light that is incident uponextreme tip 100. In general, cable 70 uses multiple fibers, in the orderof hundreds, to achieve flexibility allowing a small bend radius forcable 70 and in order to carry a concentrated light source.

Referring to FIG. 2, tip portion 90 is configured to be received into,and removably secured to, a bulkhead fitting 102 and an associated lightfocusing mechanism. Bulkhead fitting 102 is configured to be affixed toor integrated with a bulkhead, chassis, frame or the like that is fixedin relation to the rotating surface to be measured using system 50, suchthat the extreme tip 100 of tip portion 90 is proximal to the rotatingservice.

A presently contemplated rotating surface is a gas turbine engine, butother moving surfaces are also contemplated. Indeed, the term “movingsurfaces” is intended to be non-limiting to encompass, for example,rotating, reciprocating/oscillating, and linear movement. Indeed, othermovement could include any patterns that repeat, whether truly periodicor not, can be monitored. For example, shafts or surfaces drivenrandomly by a stepper motor in robotics or automation can be monitored.

It should now be understood that bulkhead fitting 102 is optional and/orcan be substituted for other types of mounts that are appropriate to theparticular moving surface. However, in the present embodiment whichincludes bulkhead fitting 102, bulkhead fitting 102 thus also includes atube 108 complementary to fiber-optic bundle 94 in order to receivebundle 94 therein and a connector 106 complementary to connector 98 topermit removable attachment of tip portion 90 to bulkhead fitting 102.Bulkhead fitting 102 also includes a set of exterior threads 109 on itsdistal tip. Threads 109 are for attaching a lens or other light focusingmechanism (not shown), and to allow adjustment thereof to focus emittedlight onto the rotating surface.

Electronics portion 54, which is shown in greater detail in FIG. 3,comprises a chassis 110 that encases electronics and supports a lightsource port 114 and a receiver port 118. Light source port 114 includesa fitting that is complementary source connector 82 so that source-line74 can be removably attached to light source port 114. Likewise,receiver port 118 includes a fitting that is complementary to receiverconnector 86 so that receiver-line 78 can be removably attached toreceiver port 118. Chassis 110 also supports a data port 122, which inthe present embodiment is a universal serial bus (USB) port, but inother embodiments can be based on any type of wired or wirelessstandard, including Ethernet, RS-485, Institute of Electronic andElectrical Engineers (IEEE) standard 802.11, Bluetooth. Data port 122permits connection of electronics portion 54 to an external computingdevice either directly or through a network, so that programming changescan be made to electronics portion 54 and/or data collected onelectronics portion 54 can be downloaded therefrom.

In an embodiment, the electronics within electronics portion 54 thuscomprises any standard microcomputer configuration including one or morecentral processing units, volatile memory (e.g. random access memory),non-volatile memory (e.g. read only memory, FLASH memory), allinterconnected by a bus to which ports 114, 118 and 122 will alsoconnect. The microcomputer configuration renders electronics portion 54functional to operate as a tachometer (or other monitoring system) inaccordance with the teachings further described below. Those skilled inthe art will now recognize that the electronics in electronics portion54 can also be implemented using other hardware configurations, such asusing field-programmable-gate arrays or the like.

In operation, optical portion 58 is connected to electronics portion 54by attaching source connector 82 to source port 114 and receiverconnector 86 to receiver port 118. Bulkhead fitting 102 is disposedwithin the bore of a chassis of a gas turbine engine or other movingsurface. Tip portion 90 is disposed within bulkhead fitting 102 andattached thereto by joining connector 98 to connector 106, such thatextreme tip 100 is proximal to the rotating surface. Power is thenapplied to electronics portion 54 and then light is driven throughsource line 74 and then emitted from extreme tip 100 and onto therotating surface. The features of the rotating surface then reflect theemitted light back towards tip 100 into the non-emitting fiber-opticstrands within tip 100, and that light is then carried back throughreceiver line 78 and back into electronics portion 54.

Those skilled in the art will now appreciate that the reflectivefeatures of the rotating surface will vary over the circumference of thesurface. Accordingly, non-emitting fiber-optic strands within tip 100will receive a time varying pattern of reflected light from the surfaceof the rotating surface that will substantially correspond to thereflective features of the rotating surface. Accordingly, time-varyingperiodic patterns of light will be collected through receiver line 78and back into electronics portion 54.

FIG. 6 shows a representation of an exemplary distribution of emittingand non-emitting of fiber optic strands in a cross section 145 of bundle94. Cross section 145 includes a plurality of emitting 147 andnon-emitting fiber optic strands 149. Emitting strands 145 arerepresented by a solid circle, while non-emitting strands 149 arerepresented by an empty circle. Cross section 145 includes in the orderof hundreds of strands 147, 149. In a present embodiment include aboutone-thousand strands 147, 149. (For convenience and ease of explanation,only a representative few strands 147, 149 are actually shown in FIG.6.) Approximately half of the strands in cross section 145 are emittingstrands 147 that combine in source line 74, while the remaining strandsin cross section 145 are non-emitting strands 149 that combine inreceiver line 78. In a present embodiment, strands 147, 149 aredispersed in a substantially random pattern throughout cross section145. In a present embodiment, strands 147, 149 are also dispersed in asubstantially evenly in relation to each other throughout cross section145. Such approximately sized distribution pattern of light cansubstantially fully illuminate the surface to be sensed. The individualstrands 147, 149 can cooperate to create a visual “average” of thesurface reflection for detection by the electronics portion 54. It is tobe understood, however, that such a visual “average” of reflection isnot required and other measurement paradigms are contemplated as desiredfor a particular situation.

To provide a simplified example of a signal gathered from an exemplaryrotating surface, FIG. 7 represents the surface of a wheel 150 embossedwith metal stamped numerals between the numbers one and fifteen. Wheel150 is represented twice in FIG. 7—once as a cylinder, and again as bar.The bar representation of wheel 150 represents a linear projection ofthe circumference of wheel 150. The stamped numerals are distinctartifacts that are present on wheel 150 such that when wheel 150 isrotating, system 50 will detect those artifacts, as will be discussed ingreater detail below. Wheel 150 also is shown with two physicalartifacts 151, which represent any kind of scuffing, abrasion,imperfections or any other type of marking that could appear on wheel150. Of note, while such markings can be specially applied for purposesof utilizing system 50, such markings need not be specially applied.

FIG. 7 also shows a waveform 154 that corresponds to the detectedreflective features of wheel 150. Waveform 154 can be generated usingsystem 50. The reflected light from wheel 150 is represented on waveform154 as arrows 158 indicating a relationship of ‘light’ and ‘dark’characteristics of the stamped numerals and artifacts 151 (and othermarking that are not expressly drawn but which are implied in waveform154 for purposes of providing an example) on the surface of the spinningwheel 150. A shorter arrow indicates a dark characteristic, while alonger arrow indicates a light characteristic.

To provide a more complex example of a signal gathered from an exemplaryrotating surface, FIG. 8 shows three separate waveforms 162-1, 162-2,162-3 (Collectively, waveforms 162, and generically waveform 162. Thisnomenclature is used elsewhere herein.) as detected by system 50. Thesewaveforms represent three different speeds of a gas turbine engine.Waveform 162-1 represents a slow rotation, with only one completerotation being shown in entire waveform 162-1. Waveform 162-2 representsa faster rotation (in relation to waveform 162-1), with three completerotations being shown in entire waveform 162-2. Waveform 162-3represents a faster rotation (in relation to waveform 162-2), with sixcomplete rotations being shown in entire waveform 162-3. The extremenegative-going excursion (or trough) 164 in each waveform 162 separateand distinct from the turbine blade reflections represents a unique markthat is present on shaft of the gas turbine, and can be used as theonce-per-revolution marker. Of note is that the unique mark can be basedon some inherent feature or artifact already present on the shaft of thegas turbine—and it need not be a specially-applied paint or othermarker.

FIG. 9 shows waveforms 170 which respectively correspond to waveforms162 of FIG. 8. The three separate speeds shown in FIG. 8 are processedby electronic portion 54 creating pulses 174 that are the absolutepositional dependent “once-per-revolution” signals created by theextreme negative going excursions 166 discussed in relation to FIG. 8.It should be understood that waveforms 170 and 162 are merelyexemplary—individual revolutions can be associated with smoother and/orgentler changes in waveforms as well, and/or any other unique artifactassociated with any given waveform shape.

Having provided an overview of system 50, further discussion of variousaspects and features of system 50 is provided below. As previouslydescribed, optical portion 58 is connected to electronics portion 54 byattaching source connector 82 to source port 114 and receiver connector86 to receiver port 118. Bulkhead fitting 102 is disposed within thebore of a chassis of a gas turbine engine or other rotating surface. Tipportion 90 is disposed within bulkhead fitting 102 and attached theretoby joining connector 98 to connector 106, such that extreme tip 100 isproximal to the rotating surface. Power is then applied to electronicsportion 54 and light is driven through source line 74 and then emittedfrom extreme tip 100 and onto the rotating surface. An optical focusingtip or other light focusing mechanism can be permanently applied tobulkhead fitting 102 within the chassis of the gas turbine engine.

System 50 is configured to transmit light onto the rotating surface viaa light source as connected to a bulkhead fitting via a light focusingmechanism. The now-illuminated rotating surface then presents itsreflection to a light sensitive device again via the light focusingmechanism. The light focusing mechanism is configurable to focus thereflected light from the rotating surface onto the receiving (i.e.non-emitting) ends of bundle 90.

Additionally, electronics portion 54 can receive the reflected light(via cable 62) and be configured to provide a single averaged value ofthe averaged values already being received due to the dispersion of theemitting and non-emitting fiber optics within extreme tip 100. Thisaverage of the average is used to quantify of the surface reflection.Electronics portion 54 is configured to convert the presented reflectedlight to an electronic signal that can be measured and recorded by asampling mechanism also incorporated into electronics portion. Thesampling mechanism within electronics portion 54 measures and recordsthis electronic signal in accordance with timing instructions providedby its connection to the recognition process and timing mechanism. Thesemeasured and recorded points are called “sample points”. Over time,these sample points represent an electronic signature of the reflectedimage as viewed by the light focusing mechanism. The surface recognitionfeature records a high-speed electronic “fingerprint” of the rotatingshaft surface. In an embodiment, up to 70,000 data points/second can beprocessed, which is suitable for a gas turbine engine. In otherembodiments, hundreds-of-thousands of data points/second can beprocessed. In general, the number of data points/second that areprocessed can be chosen to correspond with the speed of the surfacebeing monitored. The timing mechanism performs a series of comparisonsof the electronic signal to determine a repeating pattern. When there isa sufficient correlation between previously recorded sample points andcurrent sample points, this event is marked. When the recognitionprocess finds a repeating event, it outputs a signal in coordinationwith the timing mechanism that marks the event marker position in timevia the optional event marker. These signals are called “coded signals”.A signature representing one cycle of the surface with a known orderived position and/or velocity is used for comparison to subsequentdata. As new data streams from the sampling mechanism to the processingdevice, the new data is compared to the signature; when the correlationis sufficient it is then determined to represent the appearance of a newcycle and an event marker may be issued. Signatures longer than onecycle can be created representing long-term trends; reflectivity, angle,etc. Other shorter signatures can be created representing short-termevents such as peak power, transient events, scale, etc.—both forimprovement of the cyclic recognition and general maintenance andmonitoring. The foregoing and the other related functionalities ofelectronics portion 54, can all be implemented as software and/orhardware and/or firmware and/or combinations thereof within electronicsportion 54.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a method for monitoring a rotating surface isdepicted in the form of a flow-chart and indicated generally at 500.Method 500 can be implemented as software and/or hardware and/orfirmware and/or combinations thereof within electronics portion 54.Method 500 further illustrates various features and aspects of system50, although method 500 (and variants thereof) can be used with variantsof system 50. Beginning at step 510, a plurality of light signals areemitted in a random pattern onto a rotating (or other moving) surface.When performed using system 50, electronics portion 54 will emit lightthrough a plurality of emitting fiber optic strands 147 from lightsource port 114 and through cable 62 and out through distal tip 100.Next, at step 515, reflections from the rotating surface are collectedat non-emitting fiber optic strands 149 at distal tip 100, which are inturn carried back through cable 62 to electronics portion 54 viareceiver port 118.

Next, at step 520, the light received at step 515 is combined into a atleast one waveform. The waveform can have the appearance of any ofwaveforms 162 in FIG. 7.

Next, at step 525 sample points are derived from the waveform that isgenerated at step 520. These sample points can be any or all of thetroughs found in, for example, waveforms 162 of FIG. 7. Step 525 merelyidentifies these points.

Next, at step 530 a plurality of the sample points that are derived atstep 525 are collected and analyzed. The analysis is configured toascertain a repeating pattern within waveform 162. Thus, at step 535, adetermination is made as to whether sufficient sample points have beencollected to ascertain a repeating pattern. If “no”, method 500 cyclesfrom step 535 back to step 530. If “yes”, method 500 advances from step535 to step 540.

At step 540, a timing period is derived based on the collected samplepoints, and a marker is defined therefrom at step 545. At step 550 anoutput signal is generated based on the marker defined at step 545 andthe timing period derived at step 540. An example of an output signalthat corresponds to signal 162-1 would include output signal 170-1 ofFIG. 9. (Likewise, output signal 170-2 would correspond with signal162-2 and output signal 170-3 would correspond without signal 162-3).

As one variation to method 500, upon completion of step 550, method 500can return back to step 535. Indeed, it is to be understood that method500 is shown as a series of steps for ease of presentation andexplanation, but that when implemented by persons skilled in the art,the steps of method 500 are deployed in an iterative, self-correctingmanner so that as more sample points are derived at step 525, animproved timing period can be derived at step 540 and more precisemarker can be derived at step 545 so that a more meaningful outputsignal can be generated at step 550. Indeed, such iterations caneventually reveal any variations or fluctuations in the surface thatoccur over a number of rotations or other period of time.

FIG. 11 shows another variation of method 500, shown as method 500 a.Steps 510 a through 530 a are substantially the same as step 500 through530. At step 535 a, new data is correlated to a previously-collectedsignature pattern. The previously-collected signature pattern can be asignature pattern associated with the rotating surface associated withstep 510 a, and the previously-collected signature pattern can beobtained by performing steps substantially equivalent to steps 510 a-530a on a separate process prior to the actual performance of method 500 a.At step 545 a the marker associated with the previously-collectedsignature pattern is defined and/or updated and/or refined as the casemay require. At step 555 a output is generated. After step 555 a themethod returns to step 530 a. The output that is generated at step 555 acan be a waveform or in any other suitable format. Note that it can bedesired to perform steps 530 a-545 a according to a desired criteria(e.g. a number of cycles so that the results of those cycles can beaveraged) prior to actually performing step 550 a.

The functionality of method 500, and the other related functionalitiesof electronics portion 54, can all be implemented as software and/orhardware and/or firmware and/or combinations thereof within electronicsportion 54.

While the foregoing presents certain specific embodiments, variations,combinations and/or subsets of those embodiments are contemplated. Forexample, system 50 can be altered to employ a camera in place of tipportion 90. As another example, embodiments herein refer to a bundle 94of fibre optic strands in cable 62. However, in other embodiments, cable62 can be implemented with a single fiber as an emitter and another an acollector. In a single-fiber solution it can be desired to use abrighter source, such as a laser or a pulsed light emitting diode(“LED”) to compensate for reduced reflection. Alternatively, fibre canbe omitted altogether and other types of emitters or collectors can beused. In addition, cable 62 can be eliminated altogether by aconfiguration that implements the emitting and receiving function ofelectronics portion 54 within a device that is resident all within thesame form-factor as tip 94 in and of itself. As a still further examplevariation, hybrids of the above are contemplated whereby a source ishoused completely within tip 94, but a receiver line (such as line 78)is connected to a modified version of electronics portion 54 that doesnot include a source or a source port 114. In these variations, it canbe desired to provide additional cooling capabilities, particularlywhere the entire system is incorporated into tip 94 and located proximalto the moving surface. As a still further variation, a lasing device canbe used in place of an emitting lamp within electronics portion 54.Those skilled in the art will now recognize that method 500 and method500 a and variations of each can be implemented on other systems, otherthan system 50.

There are various novel features of the present specification. Forexample, the use of the tip portion 90 and the signal processingelectronics within electronics portion 54. The tip portion 90 allowssystem 50 to be used in many different applications. The electronics ofelectronics portion 58 also process an electronic representation of theobserved surface reflection inherent to the surface of the rotatingobject to obtain the desired output.

The electronic portion 58 is configured to amplify and filter thewaveform obtained at receiver port 118 into yet another waveform thatalso represents the passing rotating surface. In Mode 1 operation therepeating pattern can have a distinguishing unique “marker” thatdeviates from the normal signal level. This unique mark can be directlyrelated to a known physical location on the rotating surface and therebybecomes a known reference point that the surface recognition technologycan utilize without operator intervention. In Mode 2 the pattern repeatsby there is no unique distinguishing marker evident in the waveform. Inthis Mode an operator will observe the waveform and either create aphysical reference point or assign a physical reference point thatelectronics portion 58 will then retain.

In both Mode 1 and Mode 2 the Electronic Portion produces aTransistor-Transistor Logic (“TTL”) level output pulse in accordancewith the processed data that has produced a reference point as seen inFIG. 9 as derived from the waveforms 162 shown in FIG. 8. It should alsobe understood that other types of output signals are contemplated, otherthan the type of signal shown in FIG. 9.

While system 50 addresses the positioning problem associated with gasturbine engines, this technology also applies to other less restrictiveapplications. Such uses include: commercial power systems; the aircraftindustry; industrial infrastructure machinery such as pumps, compressorsand motors; gas turbine power system engines, which includes stationaryengines such as commercial and military power systems, co-generationplants, and emergency standby generators; gas and steam turbine poweredmarine propulsion systems; and mobile turbines. These are other possibleapplications and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of allpotential applications.

1. A monitoring system for a moving surface comprising: an emitter foremitting at least one light signal onto said rotating surface; acollector for receiving at least one reflected representation of saidlight signals; electronics connected to said receiver and configured tocombine said reflected representations into at least one waveform; saidelectronics further configured to derive and collect a plurality ofsample points from said waveform; said electronics further configured toderive a timing period from said collection of sample points when asufficient number of said sample points have been collected; saidelectronics further configured to define a marker in said singlewaveform and generate an output signal that includes a representation ofat least said marker.
 2. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein saidemitter comprises a plurality of light emitting fiber-optic strandsrandomly dispersed in parallel to each other.
 3. The monitoring systemof claim 2 wherein said collector comprises a plurality of non-lightemitting fiber-optic strands randomly dispersed in parallel to eachother and in relation to said light emitting fiber-optic strands.
 4. Themonitoring system of claim 1 wherein said electronics comprise amicrocomputer configuration including one or more central processingunits, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, all interconnected by a busto which a source respective to said emitter and a receiver saidcollector also connect.
 5. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein saidrotating surface is a gas turbine engine and said emitter and receiverare mounted within a bulkhead fitting attached within a bore of achassis of said gas turbine engine.
 6. The monitoring system of claim 1wherein said emitter and said collector are connected to saidelectronics via a fiber optic cable.
 7. The monitoring system of claim 1wherein said electronics further comprise an interface for connecting anexternal device to receive said generated output signal.
 8. Themonitoring system of claim 1 wherein said surface is rotating.
 9. Themonitoring system of claim 1 wherein said at least one waveform is asingle waveform.
 10. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein saidelectronics comprise a plurality of field programmable gate arrays. 11.A method for monitoring a moving surface comprising: emitting at leastone light signal onto said rotating surface; receiving at least onereflected representation of said light signals; combining said reflectedrepresentation into at least one waveform; deriving a plurality ofsample points from said waveform; deriving a timing period from saidcollection of sample points when a sufficient number of said samplepoints have been derived; defining a marker in said waveform; and,generating an output signal that includes a representation of at leastsaid marker.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein said emitting step isperformed using a plurality of light emitting fiber-optic strandsrandomly dispersed in parallel to each other.
 13. The method of claim 12wherein said receiving step is performed using a plurality of non-lightemitting fiber-optic strands randomly dispersed in parallel to eachother and in relation to said light emitting fiber-optic strands. 14.The method of claim 11 wherein said rotating surface is a gas turbineengine and said emitter and receiver are mounted within a bulkheadfitting attached within a bore of a chassis of said gas turbine engine.15. The method of claim 11 further comprising sending said output signalto an external device.
 16. The method of claim 11 wherein said surfaceis rotating.
 17. The method of claim 11 wherein said at least onewaveform is a single waveform.